gradiusfandomcom-20200215-history
Parodius (series)
The Parodius Series is a series of horizontally-scrolling shooters developed by Konami. The games are tongue-in-cheek parodies of Gradius Series, hence the name (Parodius is a portmanteau on Parody and Gradius). It also parodies many other Konami franchises, including Antarctic Adventure, Taisen Puzzle Dama, Castlevania, Axelay, Thunder Cross, Ganbare Goemon, Xexex, Lethal Enforcers, Tokimeki Memorial and Twinbee. Games There are six games in the Parodius series (arranged by title, year of its debut and original platform). In addition, three Pachislot games based on the characters were released in 1998 and 2010. Parodius 1988 Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－ ''1990 Gokujō Parodius! ''～Kako no Eikō o Motomete～ ''1994 Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius 1995 Sexy Parodius 1996 Paro Wars 1997 Pachinko Games Little Pirates 1998 Gokuraku Parodius 2010 Gokurako Parodius A 2010 Numerous ports have been created. Parodius －Tako wa Chikyū o Sukū－ was converted to Cell Phones and to Virtual Console (WII). ''Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－ was ported to the Game Boy, Famicom (NES), Super Famicom (SNES), PC Engine, PlayStation and Sega Saturn. Gokujō Parodius! was ported to the Super Famicom, PlayStation and Saturn. The PlayStation and Saturn versions were a combined release of Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－ and Gokujō Parodius! called Gokujō Parodius Da! Deluxe Pack. The last two titles were also released on both the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. A compilation of all Parodius games has been announced for release on the Sony PSP. The first three episodes of the series were released in Japan for Cell Phones. Only a few of the games were released outside Japan: Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－ and Gokujō Parodius! were released in Europe (as Parodius and Fantastic Journey respectively), but none of the games were released in the United States. There is also a spin-off named Paro Wars. This game is a turn-based strategy game based on Cosmic Wars, which plays similar to the Nintendo Wars series. Aside from Pentarou, only some of the Parodius-native characters (Octopus and the like) appear in this game. In July 1998, a Parodius themed Pachislot Machine named Little Pirates was released. Two more Pachislot machines, Gokuraku Parodius and Gokuraku Parodius A, were released in 2010. In addition, several pachinko machines based on Parodius universe were released in Japan, such as ''CR Parodius Da! EX'' in 2000 and [[CR Parodius Da! EX|''CR Gokujō Parodius!]] in 2006. In late 2007, Konami released Otomedius (オトメディウス (Otomediusu, オトメディウス?) Otome Acronym: Maiden and Gradius), whose characters are stylized with beautiful girls in spaceships. Among the ships to choose from are: *[[Vic Viper|''Vic Viper]] from Gradius Series (Piloted by Aoba Anoa) *''Lord British'' from Salamander Series (Piloted by Eru Tron) *''Xel Viper'' from Thunder Cross (Piloted by Emon Five) *''Murdoch Viper'' from Twinbee Series (Piloted by Madoka, the grandchild of Dr. Mardock) *''Serenity Viper'' from Xexex (piloted by Diol Twee) *''Bigcore examiner'' from Nemesis Series and Gradius NEO Imperial (piloted by Tita Nium). The characters are designed by Mine Yoshizaki. Features Characters Some of the characters that appear in the various games in the series include the following: *''Tako,[[Takosuke| ''Takosuke]], Takohiko and Belial. They are octopuses. Tako, known as Octopus or'' Mr.Parodius'', appears in the MSX Parodius and Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－ He appears again in Jikkyo Oshaberi Parodius as a narrator (Oshaberi), his wife Noriko respectively narrating the second player at SS & PS1 Ports. Two of his offspring he used as options in the previous games took his place in next games: the first one, named as Takosuke, appears on Gokujyou Parodius along with Belial (a yellow female octopus). Another octopus, Takohiko takes Takosuke's place in Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius. The names Takosuke and Takohiko are both portmanteaus of "tako", the Japanese word for octopus, and common endings of Japanese male names, "-suke" and "-hiko". It also makes cameo in the boss battle in Ganbare Goemon: Yukihime Kyuushutsu Emaki. *[[Hikaru & Akane|''Hikaru'' and Akane]], two showgirls in rabbit costumes riding on rockets. They're weapons are borrowed from Thunder Cross. They were bosses in Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius, most likely as revenge for not being featured as playable characters. They return as usable characters in Sexy Parodius. The girls have appeared as a cameo in few Konami game, such as Wai Wai World, Ganbare Goemon 3, Snatcher, ''TwinBee RPG'', ''Bishi Bashi'', the cards in the Yu-Gi-Oh is replaced by the Gamble Angel Bunny in the Yu-Gi-Oh GX and changes the name of Ruby and Cobalt in ''Otomedius Excellent''. *''Soitsu'', Doitsu, Koitsu, and Aitsu, little stick men flying on paper darts. They are also monsters in the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game whose full power cannot be utilized unless they're played in pairs. Their names are commonly used in Japanese slang terms to refer to people one does not know (Doitsu = who, Koitsu = this guy, Soitsu = that guy - far from the speaker, but near to the listener - , and Aitsu = that guy - far from both chatters). *[[Michael and Gabriel|''Michael'' and Gabriel]], two angelic pigs, named after two Christian archangels. They're loosely based on angel pig enemies appearing in Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－. Their weapon sets are constructed mostly from those weapons used in Taito's Darius series. *[[Mambo and Samba|''Mambo'' and Samba]], two goofy looking Ocean sunfish: they're character is inspired from obscure MSX2 shooter Space Manbow. They are named after the music styles of the same names, as to pun the design of the "Space Manbow" ship (Since it looks like a mambo fish). Their weapon sets parody those used in the R-Type series, but the weapons are also implemented with functions from Xexex, such as search laser. *''Mike'' and Ran, a pair of cats with what looks like bandages between their legs, a comical way of suggesting they've been neutered.Mike's weapon set is heavily based on first Darius, while Ran takes her weapons from the R-Type Leo. *''Sue'' and Memim, two fairy girls. They replace Hikaru and Akane in Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius. *[[Ivan and Toby|''Ivan'' and Toby]], two tough-looking penguins. The long yellow eyebrows of this duo are the most striking feature of this particular penguin species. They replace Pentarou and Hanako in Sexy Parodius. *''Black Viper'', a new space ship only playable in Sexy Parodius. It has similar weapons to Shooting Star. It's most likely based from Gradius III Vic Viper, as the theme song of Black Viper is named "Departure for Sexy", which is a reference to Gradius III theme song "Departure for Space". *General Poti, a Dog Commander only playable in Paro Wars. From other Konami games: *Vic Viper and Lord British , of the original Gradius series. *TwinBee and WinBee, the bee-shaped robots from the Twinbee series. They borrow their weapons from few bell powers used in their series. *Pentarou and Hanako, a pair of penguins, Pentarou is the son of the "Penguin" who originally appeared Antarctic Adventure, Penguin Adventure, Yume Penguin Monogatari, Tsurikko Penta, Super Fisherman Penta, Balloon Penta and Penta no Tsuri Bōken DX. His weapon set is modified from those used in Gradius III, such as Spread Gun. He's usually seen sporting a machine gun, as to reference to Penguin's infamous gun weapon in Penguin Adventure. *''Goemon'' and Ebisumaru, from the Ganbare Goemon/''Legend of the Mystical Ninja'' series. The former one was playable in MSX Parodius. *''Upa'' and Rupa, two super babies, the former debuting in the Famicom Disk System game Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa. Upa translates his weapons from Seibu Kaihatsu's Raiden using the milk bottles from his game or pacifiers. Rupa's weapons again are based on Toaplan's Truxton II. *Dracula-kun and Kid Dracula, who are actually the same character. Both names reflect the games he starred in (Akumajou Special:Boku Dracula-kun and Kid Dracula) which are parodies on the Castlevania series.Dracula-Kun's weapon set mimics the one used in Axelay, while Kid Dracula would use Thunder Cross-based weapon set. Both weapon sets are parodied with a Castlevania twist, like having bats or candles. Occasionally umbrellas would be used as weapons or even as a shield- as to refer on the Kid Dracula's Bat Umbrella-spell from Kid Dracula. *[[Option and Multiple|''Option'' and Multiple]], the mimic drones of Vic Viper and Lord British, respectively. They have faces to denote self-consciousness and can change their forms by activating various modoki abilities, which let's them borrow few weapon sets from other characters. They appear as playable characters only in Sexy Parodius. *''Popolon'', a knight from the MSX game Knightmare and its sequel Maze of Galious. He only appears in the MSX Parodius. *''Shooting Star'', a red ship that appears as an enemy in Twinbee Yahho!. Piloted by Ace. Enemies Gradius's mechanical and alien enemies have been almost completely removed from Parodius. There are several enemies that make it into every title. Some bosses in the Parodius games are parodies of Gradius bosses; the attacks and patterns remain the same, however the graphical look is usually changed to something more organic or cartoony. Penguins: The most common enemy faced in any Parodius game. Usually there is one level that is within a penguin building, with viewports showing penguins at work. The penguins are anthropomorphic; wielding weapons, operating machinery, and even listening to music. There are a couple penguin bosses as well. Octopodes: Another common enemy faced in the Parodius series. In almost every Parodius game, an octopus serves as the final boss. Large women as boss creatures: Every Parodius game features one or more bosses that persist of scantily clad women (or penguins, or octopuses). Sexy Parodius, as its name would imply, is composed of several such women as its bosses. Excessive amounts of moai: Making light of the famous Easter Island statues that appear in almost every Gradius game, the Parodius games often have a comical moai boss, which may be presented wearing lipstick or given other anthropomorphic features. Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－ and Gokujō Parodius! ～Kako no Eikō o Motomete～ have an entire stage featuring moai; including a large moai ship, a moai boss that shoots moai out of her mouth, little moai cannons, and moai obstacles. Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius also features a moai stage parodying Tokimeki Memorial. Music One of the more distinctive features about the series is the extensive use of classical music and other well known music, in what could be termed as wacky remixes. There are also a number of rehashes of in game music from Gradius and other Konami games -- very little of the series' music was newly composed. Bell Power-ups Originally from the Twinbee games, these typically give temporary power-ups that have varied throughout the series. True to their origin, the bells' colors can be cycled by shooting them. The new bell colors have remained somewhat constant in meaning throughout latter games in the series. ; Yellow Bell : Gives points. Subsequent yellow bells increase in point value from 500 points up to 10,000 points. Missing a bell will cause the bonus to revert back to 500 points, which will then increase with each yellow bell again. ; White Bell : Gives your character a megaphone for a short period of time. Out of the megaphone is placed a sentence in Japanese (or English in the European version), the text of which can be collided into bullets and enemies to damage them. When this bell is collected, the effects of previous bells and defense power-ups are cancelled. In Sexy Parodius, this instead summons Alex, a Pac-Man-like helper character that eats enemies. However, Alex will not harm "female" enemies. Alex has an HP counter that can be refilled with yellow bells and increased with more white bells. ; Green Bell : Enlarges your character 400%. While your character is in this enlarged state, they cannot fire any weapons, but is also invulnerable to all damage; this allows your character to collide into walls and enemies (thus killing them) without taking damage. However, no bells can be collected or defense power-ups activated until the effect expires. This also cancels stored weapons from other bells as well as any shields present on activation. ; Purple Bell : Converts all weak enemies into power-up pods and/or bells. This was first available in Gokujō Parodius!. ; Red Bell : Provides three rounds of the Kiku Beam. A miniature version of your character flies ahead of your character and spreads a long vertical beam that can act as a barrier that damages enemies and destroys enemy bullets. It scrolls with the screen. ; Blue Bell : Provides one Super Bomb. A large explosion floods the screen and destroys all enemies within. Up to three blue bells can be collected in sequence and saved for later use. Note that this is not possible in Sexy Parodius as the bomb is fired when the Fire button is pressed. Roulette / Blizzard When enabled, some power-up pods start a roulette on the power-up bar. The player then presses the power-up button to stop the roulette and get whatever power-up the roulette stops on. The player must be careful not to get the "Oh!" power-up ("!?" in Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－) between the last two power-ups, for this will remove all power-ups from the player and reset movement speed to minimum. This cancels any prior progress made on the bar. In European versions of the game, this feature was renamed Blizzard. Power-ups The Parodius series borrows the power-up bar system from the Gradius Series. However, the order and types of power-ups are somewhat inconsistent between characters; some characters have more than one missile or may not have a laser-type weapon, for example. True to the game series' theme, many of the weapon sets are actually either direct weapons or borrowed parodies of the weapons used in other Konami's shoot-em ups- even expanding to poke fun at the other game industries' famous shooters, such as Taito's Darius and Irem's R-Type. Some power-ups exclusive to Parodius include: *'Homing Missile': Two missiles are fired at once and track the enemy. Later on included in Otomedius. *'Double': Most Double power-ups split firepower in more than two directions. *'B-Shot (Boomerang Shot)': Fires a boomerang that bounces off the first wall or enemy it hits. Used by Hikaru in the SNES port of Gokujo Parodius, Kid Dracula in Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius: Forever With Me, and by Option in Sexy Parodius. This is took directly from Thunder Cross. *'Spread Gun': Bullets explode on impact, similarly to the Spread Bomb from Gradius games, or more closely, the Gravity Bullet from Gradius Gaiden. Enemies can be damaged in the blast. The bullest will slant upward or downward if the character was moving up or down when they were fired. Hikaru's Carrot Shot is similar but does not leave explosions. *'Option': Twinbee's Options are retained from its original game; the Options are only visible when moving and retract to the player's position when the player stops moving. Known as Funshin in his game series. *'Grade Up': Some characters have this power-up in lieu of Option. It increases the firepower of all available weapons. For example, it can increase and divert firepower in more directions, increase laser width, increase missile deployment rate, etc. *'Shields and Force Fields': Unlike Gradius, which labels shield and force field power-ups as "?", Parodius games label such power-ups properly. *'Oh!': Originally in Gradius III, this simply strips the player of all power-ups and sets movement speed to normal. The voiceover says "Oh my god!" upon collection of this power-down. This is also called "!?" in Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－. It is included to add risk to the roulette. In the ports of Jikkyo Oshaberi Parodius, it can be replaced with a roulette game instead. Parodius in other media In Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game, Koitsu, Aitsu, Soitsu, Doitsu appear as monster cards. English version of the cards are also available.http://gradius.classicgaming.gamespy.com/yugioh.html Trivia * 16-Bit Block (Gokujo Parodius boss) is known as one of the most unbeatable bosses in video game history. * Starting with Gokujō Parodius, the Power Meter was changed from a bar with the weapon names as text to a bar with pictures indicating the powerups. The borders of each icon determine the gameplay type chosen, red for auto, yellow for semi-auto and blue for manual. As this kind of power meter is shorter, two separate power meters appear on screen on a two player game. Note that the SNES parodius games still use the classic power meter and that the PSX and PSP version of Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius simply use the first letter of the weapon name. External links *Hardcore Gaming 101 - Parodius *Konami homepage for PSP Compilation See also *Otomedius *Otomedius Gorgeous *Otomedius Excellent *Xexex *Thunder Cross﻿ Category:Series